Wireless communications providing interoperability between devices capable of communicating at different data rates

ABSTRACT

A method, wireless mesh network and processor-readable storage medium for providing interoperability between devices that are capable of communicating at different data rates are disclosed herein. A start-of-frame delimiter token value in a synchronization header is used to indicate a data rate at which a device is capable of communicating. In certain embodiments, samples are collected around a bit transition and are used to adjust a bit timing of a receiving device to match a bit timing of a transmitting device using a coarse adjustment process and, in some embodiments, a fine adjustment process. In this way, compatibility can be maintained between new devices that can communicate at a relatively fast data rate and legacy devices that communicate at a lower data rate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/299,516, filed Jan. 29, 2010, herein incorporated in its entirety byreference.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

The reading of electrical energy, water flow, and gas usage hashistorically been accomplished with human meter readers who came on-siteand manually documented meter readings. Over time, this manual meterreading methodology has been enhanced with walk by or drive by readingsystems that use radio communications to and from a mobile collectordevice in a vehicle. Recently, there has been a concerted effort toaccomplish meter reading using fixed communication networks that allowdata to flow from the meter to a host computer system without humanintervention.

Fixed communication networks can operate using wire line or radiotechnology. For example, distribution line carrier systems arewire-based and use the utility lines themselves for communications.Radio technology has tended to be preferred due to higher data rates andindependence from the distribution network. Radio technology in the902-928 MHz frequency range can operate without an FCC license byrestricting power output and by spreading the transmitted energy over alarge portion of the available bandwidth.

Automated systems, such as Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and AdvancedMetering Infrastructure (AMI) systems, exist for collecting data frommeters that measure usage of resources, such as gas, water andelectricity. Such systems may employ a number of differentinfrastructures for collecting this meter data from the meters. Forexample, some automated systems obtain data from the meters using afixed wireless network that includes, for example, a central node, e.g.,a collection device, in communication with a number of endpoint nodes(e.g., meter reading devices (MRDs) connected to meters). At theendpoint nodes, the wireless communications circuitry may beincorporated into the meters themselves, such that each endpoint node inthe wireless network comprises a meter connected to an MRD that haswireless communication circuitry that enables the MRD to transmit themeter data of the meter to which it is connected. The wirelesscommunication circuitry may include a transponder that is uniquelyidentified by a transponder serial number. The endpoint nodes may eithertransmit their meter data directly to the central node, or indirectlythough one or more intermediate bi-directional nodes which serve asrepeaters for the meter data of the transmitting node.

Some networks may employ a mesh networking architecture. In suchnetworks, known as “mesh networks,” endpoint nodes are connected to oneanother through wireless communication links such that each endpointnode has a wireless communication path to the central node. Onecharacteristic of mesh networks is that the component nodes can allconnect to one another via one or more “hops.” Due to thischaracteristic, mesh networks can continue to operate even if a node ora connection breaks down. Accordingly, mesh networks areself-configuring and self-healing, significantly reducing installationand maintenance efforts.

Communication systems have existed for many years, but upgrades to agiven system typically require replacement or upgrade of devices tosupport the capabilities of a new system. Specifically, a given upgrademay increase the data rate used for communications. Typically, data rateincreases result in compatibility issues between existing or legacydevices and the new, more capable equipment. A second factor in wirelesscommunications is the relationship between communication data rates andcommunication performance. As a rule of thumb, the receiver sensitivityof a device is degraded by 3 dB each time the data rate is doubled.

Some existing Local Area Network (LAN) systems may use frequency hoppingspread spectrum (FHSS) communications. Some existing systems may allowfor per-message synchronization between devices, where a receivingdevice synchronizes to a transmitting device by prioritizing channelsbased on the received signal strength (RSSI), and then detecting a validpreamble on the prioritized channel list. Some existing systems may alsobe predominantly a two-way system, where the system collector requests,or polls, data from end devices. The preamble duration may allow areceiving device to scan all frequency hopping channels and rank thereceived signal strength (RSSI) for the highest channels. The processmay be repeated a number of times before the receiving device selectsthe strongest RSSI channel to check for a valid preamble.

Accordingly, a need exists for a technique for maintaining compatibilitybetween newer equipment and legacy equipment or services that arecapable of communicating at different data rates.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A method, wireless mesh network and processor-readable storage mediumfor providing interoperability between devices that are capable ofcommunicating at different data rates are disclosed herein. According tovarious embodiments, a start-of-frame delimiter token value in asynchronization header is used to indicate a data rate at which a deviceis capable of communicating. In certain embodiments, samples arecollected around a bit transition and are used to adjust a bit timing ofa receiving device to match a bit timing of a transmitting device usinga coarse adjustment process and, in some embodiments, a fine adjustmentprocess.

One embodiment is directed to a method of operating a wireless networkcomprising a first device configured to communicate data at a first datarate and a second device configured to communicate data at a second datarate different from the first data rate. The method involves receiving,in the first device, a signal comprising a synchronization headercomprising a preamble waveform and a start-of-frame delimiter (SFD)token value that identifies an end of the synchronization header and astart of packet data. A data rate of the packet data is identified asone of the first data rate and the second data rate as a function of thestart-of-frame delimiter token value.

Another embodiment is directed to a wireless mesh network. The wirelessmesh network includes a central node comprising a transceiver configuredto transmit and receive data communications using selected frequencychannels of a plurality of frequency channels. A plurality ofbidirectional nodes are in bidirectional wireless communication with thecentral node. Each bidirectional node has a respective wirelesscommunication path to the central node that is either a direct path oran indirect path through one or more intermediate bidirectional nodesserving as repeater nodes. The central node initiates a datacommunication from the central node to a particular bidirectional nodeof the plurality of bidirectional nodes. The data communicationcomprises a synchronization header comprising a preamble waveform and astart-of-frame delimiter (SFD) token value that identifies an end of thesynchronization header and a start of packet data and that identifies adata rate selected from a plurality of data rates.

According to yet another embodiment, a processor-readable storage mediumis disclosed. The processor-readable medium stores processor-executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor tooperate a wireless mesh network comprising a first device configured tocommunicate data at a first data rate and a second device configured tocommunicate data at a second data rate different from the first datarate by receiving, in the first device, a signal comprising asynchronization header comprising a preamble waveform and astart-of-frame delimiter (SFD) token value that identifies an end of thesynchronization header and a start of packet data. A data rate of thepacket data is identified as one of the first data rate and the seconddata rate as a function of the start-of-frame delimiter token value.

Various embodiments may realize certain advantages. For example,compatibility can be maintained between new devices that can communicateat a relatively fast data rate and legacy devices that communicate at alower data rate. Using a lookup table to map SFD token values to datarates allows a variety of data rates to be supported by a configurationtable change, obviating the need to change the firmware that controlsthe functionality of a device.

Other features and advantages of the described embodiments may becomeapparent from the following detailed description and accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofvarious embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,there are shown in the drawings exemplary embodiments of various aspectsof the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specificmethods and instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary metering system;

FIG. 2 expands upon the diagram of FIG. 1 and illustrates an exemplarymetering system in greater detail;

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary collector;

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary meter;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary subnet of a wireless network forcollecting data from remote devices;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example synchronization header for use inconnection with various embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method forsynchronizing a receiving device to the bit timing of a transmittingdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary systems and methods for gathering meter data are describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 1-6. It will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that the description given herein with respectto those figures is for exemplary purposes only and is not intended inany way to limit the scope of potential embodiments.

Generally, a plurality of meter devices, which operate to track usage ofa service or commodity such as, for example, electricity, water, andgas, are operable to wirelessly communicate. One or more devices,referred to herein as “collectors,” are provided that “collect” datatransmitted by the other meter devices so that it can be accessed byother computer systems. The collectors receive and compile metering datafrom a plurality of meter devices via wireless communications. A datacollection server may communicate with the collectors to retrieve thecompiled meter data.

FIG. 1 provides a diagram of one exemplary metering system 110. System110 comprises a plurality of meters 114, which are operable to sense andrecord consumption or usage of a service or commodity such as, forexample, electricity, water, or gas. Meters 114 may be located atcustomer premises such as, for example, a home or place of business.Meters 114 comprise circuitry for measuring the consumption of theservice or commodity being consumed at their respective locations andfor generating data reflecting the consumption, as well as other datarelated thereto. Meters 114 may also comprise circuitry for wirelesslytransmitting data generated by the meter to a remote location. Meters114 may further comprise circuitry for receiving data, commands orinstructions wirelessly as well. Meters that are operable to bothreceive and transmit data may be referred to as “bi-directional” or“two-way” meters, while meters that are only capable of transmittingdata may be referred to as “transmit-only” or “one-way” meters. Inbi-directional meters, the circuitry for transmitting and receiving maycomprise a transceiver. In an illustrative embodiment, meters 114 maybe, for example, electricity meters manufactured by Elster Electricity,LLC and marketed under the tradename REX.

System 110 further comprises collectors 116. In one embodiment,collectors 116 are also meters operable to detect and record usage of aservice or commodity such as, for example, electricity, water, or gas.In addition, collectors 116 are operable to send data to and receivedata from meters 114. Thus, like the meters 114, the collectors 116 maycomprise both circuitry for measuring the consumption of a service orcommodity and for generating data reflecting the consumption andcircuitry for transmitting and receiving data. In one embodiment,collector 116 and meters 114 communicate with and amongst one anotherusing any one of several wireless techniques such as, for example,frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) and direct sequence spreadspectrum (DSSS).

A collector 116 and the meters 114 with which it communicates define asubnet/LAN 120 of system 110. As used herein, meters 114 and collectors116 may be referred to as “nodes” in the subnet 120. In each subnet/LAN120, each meter transmits data related to consumption of the commoditybeing metered at the meter's location. The collector 116 receives thedata transmitted by each meter 114, effectively “collecting” it, andthen periodically transmits the data from all of the meters in thesubnet/LAN 120 to a data collection server 206. The data collectionserver 206 stores the data for analysis and preparation of bills, forexample. The data collection server 206 may be a specially programmedgeneral purpose computing system and may communicate with collectors 116via a network 112. The network 112 may comprise any form of network,including a wireless network or a fixed-wire network, such as a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network, the Internet, an intranet, atelephone network, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN),a Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) radio network, a meshnetwork, a Wi-Fi (802.11) network, a Wi-Max (802.16) network, a landline (POTS) network, or any combination of the above.

Referring now to FIG. 2, further details of the metering system 110 areshown. Typically, the system will be operated by a utility company or acompany providing information technology services to a utility company.As shown, the system 110 comprises a network management server 202, anetwork management system (NMS) 204 and the data collection server 206that together manage one or more subnets/LANs 120 and their constituentnodes. The NMS 204 tracks changes in network state, such as new nodesregistering/unregistering with the system 110, node communication pathschanging, etc. This information is collected for each subnet/LAN 120 andis detected and forwarded to the network management server 202 and datacollection server 206.

Each of the meters 114 and collectors 116 is assigned an identifier (LANID) that uniquely identifies that meter or collector on its subnet/LAN120. In this embodiment, communication between nodes (i.e., thecollectors and meters) and the system 110 is accomplished using the LANID. However, it is preferable for operators of a utility to query andcommunicate with the nodes using their own identifiers. To this end, amarriage file 208 may be used to correlate a utility's identifier for anode (e.g., a utility serial number) with both a manufacturer serialnumber (i.e., a serial number assigned by the manufacturer of the meter)and the LAN ID for each node in the subnet/LAN 120. In this manner, theutility can refer to the meters and collectors by the utilitiesidentifier, while the system can employ the LAN ID for the purpose ofdesignating particular meters during system communications.

A device configuration database 210 stores configuration informationregarding the nodes. For example, in the metering system 200, the deviceconfiguration database may include data regarding time of use (TOU)switchpoints, etc. for the meters 114 and collectors 116 communicatingin the system 110. A data collection requirements database 212 containsinformation regarding the data to be collected on a per node basis. Forexample, a utility may specify that metering data such as load profile,demand, TOU, etc. is to be collected from particular meter(s) 114 a.Reports 214 containing information on the network configuration may beautomatically generated or in accordance with a utility request.

The network management system (NMS) 204 maintains a database describingthe current state of the global fixed network system (current networkstate 220) and a database describing the historical state of the system(historical network state 222). The current network state 220 containsdata regarding current meter-to-collector assignments, etc. for eachsubnet/LAN 120. The historical network state 222 is a database fromwhich the state of the network at a particular point in the past can bereconstructed. The NMS 204 is responsible for, amongst other things,providing reports 214 about the state of the network. The NMS 204 may beaccessed via an API 220 that is exposed to a user interface 216 and aCustomer Information System (CIS) 218. Other external interfaces mayalso be implemented. In addition, the data collection requirementsstored in the database 212 may be set via the user interface 216 or CIS218.

The data collection server 206 collects data from the nodes (e.g.,collectors 116) and stores the data in a database 224. The data includesmetering information, such as energy consumption and may be used forbilling purposes, etc. by a utility provider.

The network management server 202, network management system 204 anddata collection server 206 communicate with the nodes in each subnet/LAN120 via network 110.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating further details of oneembodiment of a collector 116. Although certain components aredesignated and discussed with reference to FIG. 3A, it should beappreciated that the invention is not limited to such components. Infact, various other components typically found in an electronic metermay be a part of collector 116, but have not been shown in FIG. 3A forthe purposes of clarity and brevity. Also, the invention may use othercomponents to accomplish the operation of collector 116. The componentsthat are shown and the functionality described for collector 116 areprovided as examples, and are not meant to be exclusive of othercomponents or other functionality.

As shown in FIG. 3A, collector 116 may comprise metering circuitry 304that performs measurement of consumption of a service or commodity and aprocessor 305 that controls the overall operation of the meteringfunctions of the collector 116. The collector 116 may further comprise adisplay 310 for displaying information such as measured quantities andmeter status and a memory 312 for storing data. The collector 116further comprises wireless LAN communications circuitry 306 forcommunicating wirelessly with the meters 114 in a subnet/LAN and anetwork interface 308 for communication over the network 112.

In one embodiment, the metering circuitry 304, processor 305, display310 and memory 312 are implemented using an A3 ALPHA meter availablefrom Elster Electricity, Inc. In that embodiment, the wireless LANcommunications circuitry 306 may be implemented by a LAN Option Board(e.g., a 900 MHz two-way radio) installed within the A3 ALPHA meter, andthe network interface 308 may be implemented by a WAN Option Board(e.g., a telephone modem) also installed within the A3 ALPHA meter. Inthis embodiment, the WAN Option Board 308 routes messages from network112 (via interface port 302) to either the meter processor 305 or theLAN Option Board 306. LAN Option Board 306 may use a transceiver (notshown), for example a 900 MHz radio, to communicate data to meters 114.Also, LAN Option Board 306 may have sufficient memory to store datareceived from meters 114. This data may include, but is not limited tothe following: current billing data (e.g., the present values stored anddisplayed by meters 114), previous billing period data, previous seasondata, and load profile data.

LAN Option Board 306 may be capable of synchronizing its time to a realtime clock (not shown) in A3 ALPHA meter, thereby synchronizing the LANreference time to the time in the meter. The processing necessary tocarry out the communication functionality and the collection and storageof metering data of the collector 116 may be handled by the processor305 and/or additional processors (not shown) in the LAN Option Board 306and the WAN Option Board 308.

The responsibility of a collector 116 is wide and varied. Generally,collector 116 is responsible for managing, processing and routing datacommunicated between the collector and network 112 and between thecollector and meters 114. Collector 116 may continually orintermittently read the current data from meters 114 and store the datain a database (not shown) in collector 116. Such current data mayinclude but is not limited to the total kWh usage, the Time-Of-Use (TOU)kWh usage, peak kW demand, and other energy consumption measurements andstatus information. Collector 116 also may read and store previousbilling and previous season data from meters 114 and store the data inthe database in collector 116. The database may be implemented as one ormore tables of data within the collector 116.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a meter 114that may operate in the system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown, the meter114 comprises metering circuitry 304′ for measuring the amount of aservice or commodity that is consumed, a processor 305′ that controlsthe overall functions of the meter, a display 310′ for displaying meterdata and status information, and a memory 312′ for storing data andprogram instructions. The meter 114 further comprises wirelesscommunications circuitry 306′ for transmitting and receiving datato/from other meters 114 or a collector 116.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in the exemplary embodiment shown, acollector 116 directly communicates with only a subset of the pluralityof meters 114 in its particular subnet/LAN. Meters 114 with whichcollector 116 directly communicates may be referred to as “level one”meters 114 a. The level one meters 114 a are said to be one “hop” fromthe collector 116. Communications between collector 116 and meters 114other than level one meters 114 a are relayed through the level onemeters 114 a. Thus, the level one meters 114 a operate as repeaters forcommunications between collector 116 and meters 114 located further awayin subnet 120.

Each level one meter 114 a typically will only be in range to directlycommunicate with only a subset of the remaining meters 114 in the subnet120. The meters 114 with which the level one meters 114 a directlycommunicate may be referred to as level two meters 114 b. Level twometers 114 b are one “hop” from level one meters 114 a, and thereforetwo “hops” from collector 116. Level two meters 114 b operate asrepeaters for communications between the level one meters 114 a andmeters 114 located further away from collector 116 in the subnet 120.

While only three levels of meters are shown (collector 116, first level114 a, second level 114 b) in FIG. 1, a subnet 120 may comprise anynumber of levels of meters 114. For example, a subnet 120 may compriseone level of meters but might also comprise eight or more levels ofmeters 114. In an embodiment wherein a subnet comprises eight levels ofmeters 114, as many as 1024 meters might be registered with a singlecollector 116.

As mentioned above, each meter 114 and collector 116 that is installedin the system 110 has a unique identifier (LAN ID) stored thereon thatuniquely identifies the device from all other devices in the system 110.Additionally, meters 114 operating in a subnet 120 comprise informationincluding the following: data identifying the collector with which themeter is registered; the level in the subnet at which the meter islocated; the repeater meter at the prior level with which the metercommunicates to send and receive data to/from the collector; anidentifier indicating whether the meter is a repeater for other nodes inthe subnet; and if the meter operates as a repeater, the identifier thatuniquely identifies the repeater within the particular subnet, and thenumber of meters for which it is a repeater. Collectors 116 have storedthereon all of this same data for all meters 114 that are registeredtherewith. Thus, collector 116 comprises data identifying all nodesregistered therewith as well as data identifying the registered path bywhich data is communicated from the collector to each node. Each meter114 therefore has a designated communications path to the collector thatis either a direct path (e.g., all level one nodes) or an indirect paththrough one or more intermediate nodes that serve as repeaters.

Information is transmitted in this embodiment in the form of packets.For most network tasks such as, for example, reading meter data,collector 116 communicates with meters 114 in the subnet 120 usingpoint-to-point transmissions. For example, a message or instruction fromcollector 116 is routed through the designated set of repeaters to thedesired meter 114. Similarly, a meter 114 communicates with collector116 through the same set of repeaters, but in reverse.

In some instances, however, collector 116 may need to quicklycommunicate information to all meters 114 located in its subnet 120.Accordingly, collector 116 may issue a broadcast message that is meantto reach all nodes in the subnet 120. The broadcast message may bereferred to as a “flood broadcast message.” A flood broadcast originatesat collector 116 and propagates through the entire subnet 120 one levelat a time. For example, collector 116 may transmit a flood broadcast toall first level meters 114 a. The first level meters 114 a that receivethe message pick a random time slot and retransmit the broadcast messageto second level meters 114 b. Any second level meter 114 b can acceptthe broadcast, thereby providing better coverage from the collector outto the end point meters. Similarly, the second level meters 114 b thatreceive the broadcast message pick a random time slot and communicatethe broadcast message to third level meters. This process continues outuntil the end nodes of the subnet. Thus, a broadcast message graduallypropagates outward from the collector to the nodes of the subnet 120.

The flood broadcast packet header contains information to prevent nodesfrom repeating the flood broadcast packet more than once per level. Forexample, within a flood broadcast message, a field might exist thatindicates to meters/nodes which receive the message, the level of thesubnet the message is located; only nodes at that particular level mayre-broadcast the message to the next level. If the collector broadcastsa flood message with a level of 1, only level 1 nodes may respond. Priorto re-broadcasting the flood message, the level 1 nodes increment thefield to 2 so that only level 2 nodes respond to the broadcast.Information within the flood broadcast packet header ensures that aflood broadcast will eventually die out.

Generally, a collector 116 issues a flood broadcast several times, e.g.five times, successively to increase the probability that all meters inthe subnet 120 receive the broadcast. A delay is introduced before eachnew broadcast to allow the previous broadcast packet time to propagatethrough all levels of the subnet.

Meters 114 may have a clock formed therein. However, meters 114 oftenundergo power interruptions that can interfere with the operation of anyclock therein. Accordingly, the clocks internal to meters 114 cannot berelied upon to provide an accurate time reading. Having the correct timeis necessary, however, when time of use metering is being employed.Indeed, in an embodiment, time of use schedule data may also becomprised in the same broadcast message as the time. Accordingly,collector 116 periodically flood broadcasts the real time to meters 114in subnet 120. Meters 114 use the time broadcasts to stay synchronizedwith the rest of the subnet 120. In an illustrative embodiment,collector 116 broadcasts the time every 15 minutes. The broadcasts maybe made near the middle of 15 minute clock boundaries that are used inperforming load profiling and time of use (TOU) schedules so as tominimize time changes near these boundaries. Maintaining timesynchronization is important to the proper operation of the subnet 120.Accordingly, lower priority tasks performed by collector 116 may bedelayed while the time broadcasts are performed.

In an illustrative embodiment, the flood broadcasts transmitting timedata may be repeated, for example, five times, so as to increase theprobability that all nodes receive the time. Furthermore, where time ofuse schedule data is communicated in the same transmission as the timingdata, the subsequent time transmissions allow a different piece of thetime of use schedule to be transmitted to the nodes.

Exception messages are used in subnet 120 to transmit unexpected eventsthat occur at meters 114 to collector 116. In an embodiment, the first 4seconds of every 32-second period are allocated as an exception windowfor meters 114 to transmit exception messages. Meters 114 transmit theirexception messages early enough in the exception window so the messagehas time to propagate to collector 116 before the end of the exceptionwindow. Collector 116 may process the exceptions after the 4-secondexception window. Generally, a collector 116 acknowledges exceptionmessages, and collector 116 waits until the end of the exception windowto send this acknowledgement.

In an illustrative embodiment, exception messages are configured as oneof three different types of exception messages: local exceptions, whichare handled directly by the collector 116 without intervention from datacollection server 206; an immediate exception, which is generallyrelayed to data collection server 206 under an expedited schedule; and adaily exception, which is communicated to the communication server 122on a regular schedule.

Exceptions are processed as follows. When an exception is received atcollector 116, the collector 116 identifies the type of exception thathas been received. If a local exception has been received, collector 116takes an action to remedy the problem. For example, when collector 116receives an exception requesting a “node scan request” such as discussedbelow, collector 116 transmits a command to initiate a scan procedure tothe meter 114 from which the exception was received.

If an immediate exception type has been received, collector 116 makes arecord of the exception. An immediate exception might identify, forexample, that there has been a power outage. Collector 116 may log thereceipt of the exception in one or more tables or files. In anillustrative example, a record of receipt of an immediate exception ismade in a table referred to as the “Immediate Exception Log Table.”Collector 116 then waits a set period of time before taking furtheraction with respect to the immediate exception. For example, collector116 may wait 64 seconds. This delay period allows the exception to becorrected before communicating the exception to the data collectionserver 206. For example, where a power outage was the cause of theimmediate exception, collector 116 may wait a set period of time toallow for receipt of a message indicating the power outage has beencorrected.

If the exception has not been corrected, collector 116 communicates theimmediate exception to data collection server 206. For example,collector 116 may initiate a dial-up connection with data collectionserver 206 and download the exception data. After reporting an immediateexception to data collection server 206, collector 116 may delayreporting any additional immediate exceptions for a period of time suchas ten minutes. This is to avoid reporting exceptions from other meters114 that relate to, or have the same cause as, the exception that wasjust reported.

If a daily exception was received, the exception is recorded in a fileor a database table. Generally, daily exceptions are occurrences in thesubnet 120 that need to be reported to data collection server 206, butare not so urgent that they need to be communicated immediately. Forexample, when collector 116 registers a new meter 114 in subnet 120,collector 116 records a daily exception identifying that theregistration has taken place. In an illustrative embodiment, theexception is recorded in a database table referred to as the “DailyException Log Table.” Collector 116 communicates the daily exceptions todata collection server 206. Generally, collector 116 communicates thedaily exceptions once every 24 hours.

In the present embodiment, a collector assigns designated communicationspaths to meters with bi-directional communication capability, and maychange the communication paths for previously registered meters ifconditions warrant. For example, when a collector 116 is initiallybrought into system 110, it needs to identify and register meters in itssubnet 120. A “node scan” refers to a process of communication between acollector 116 and meters 114 whereby the collector may identify andregister new nodes in a subnet 120 and allow previously registered nodesto switch paths. A collector 116 can implement a node scan on the entiresubnet, referred to as a “full node scan,” or a node scan can beperformed on specially identified nodes, referred to as a “node scanretry.”

A full node scan may be performed, for example, when a collector isfirst installed. The collector 116 must identify and register nodes fromwhich it will collect usage data. The collector 116 initiates a nodescan by broadcasting a request, which may be referred to as a Node ScanProcedure request. Generally, the Node Scan Procedure request directsthat all unregistered meters 114 or nodes that receive the requestrespond to the collector 116. The request may comprise information suchas the unique address of the collector that initiated the procedure. Thesignal by which collector 116 transmits this request may have limitedstrength and therefore is detected only at meters 114 that are inproximity of collector 116. Meters 114 that receive the Node ScanProcedure request respond by transmitting their unique identifier aswell as other data.

For each meter from which the collector receives a response to the NodeScan Procedure request, the collector tries to qualify thecommunications path to that meter before registering the meter with thecollector. That is, before registering a meter, the collector 116attempts to determine whether data communications with the meter will besufficiently reliable. In one embodiment, the collector 116 determineswhether the communication path to a responding meter is sufficientlyreliable by comparing a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) value(i.e., a measurement of the received radio signal strength) measuredwith respect to the received response from the meter to a selectedthreshold value. For example, the threshold value may be −60 dBm. RSSIvalues above this threshold would be deemed sufficiently reliable. Inanother embodiment, qualification is performed by transmitting apredetermined number of additional packets to the meter, such as tenpackets, and counting the number of acknowledgements received back fromthe meter. If the number of acknowledgments received is greater than orequal to a selected threshold (e.g., 8 out of 10), then the path isconsidered to be reliable. In other embodiments, a combination of thetwo qualification techniques may be employed.

If the qualification threshold is not met, the collector 116 may add anentry for the meter to a “Straggler Table.” The entry includes themeter's LAN ID, its qualification score (e.g., 5 out of 10; or its RSSIvalue), its level (in this case level one) and the unique ID of itsparent (in this case the collector's ID).

If the qualification threshold is met or exceeded, the collector 116registers the node. Registering a meter 114 comprises updating a list ofthe registered nodes at collector 116. For example, the list may beupdated to identify the meter's system-wide unique identifier and thecommunication path to the node. Collector 116 also records the meter'slevel in the subnet (i.e. whether the meter is a level one node, leveltwo node, etc.), whether the node operates as a repeater, and if so, thenumber of meters for which it operates as a repeater. The registrationprocess further comprises transmitting registration information to themeter 114. For example, collector 116 forwards to meter 114 anindication that it is registered, the unique identifier of the collectorwith which it is registered, the level the meter exists at in thesubnet, and the unique identifier of its parent meter that will serveras a repeater for messages the meter may send to the collector. In thecase of a level one node, the parent is the collector itself. The meterstores this data and begins to operate as part of the subnet byresponding to commands from its collector 116.

Qualification and registration continues for each meter that responds tothe collector's initial Node Scan Procedure request. The collector 116may rebroadcast the Node Scan Procedure additional times so as to insurethat all meters 114 that may receive the Node Scan Procedure have anopportunity for their response to be received and the meter qualified asa level one node at collector 116.

The node scan process then continues by performing a similar process asthat described above at each of the now registered level one nodes. Thisprocess results in the identification and registration of level twonodes. After the level two nodes are identified, a similar node scanprocess is performed at the level two nodes to identify level threenodes, and so on.

Specifically, to identify and register meters that will become level twometers, for each level one meter, in succession, the collector 116transmits a command to the level one meter, which may be referred to asan “Initiate Node Scan Procedure” command. This command instructs thelevel one meter to perform its own node scan process. The requestcomprises several data items that the receiving meter may use incompleting the node scan. For example, the request may comprise thenumber of timeslots available for responding nodes, the unique addressof the collector that initiated the request, and a measure of thereliability of the communications between the target node and thecollector. As described below, the measure of reliability may beemployed during a process for identifying more reliable paths forpreviously registered nodes.

The meter that receives the Initiate Node Scan Response request respondsby performing a node scan process similar to that described above. Morespecifically, the meter broadcasts a request to which all unregisterednodes may respond. The request comprises the number of timeslotsavailable for responding nodes (which is used to set the period for thenode to wait for responses), the unique address of the collector thatinitiated the node scan procedure, a measure of the reliability of thecommunications between the sending node and the collector (which may beused in the process of determining whether a meter's path may beswitched as described below), the level within the subnet of the nodesending the request, and an RSSI threshold (which may also be used inthe process of determining whether a registered meter's path may beswitched). The meter issuing the node scan request then waits for andreceives responses from unregistered nodes. For each response, the meterstores in memory the unique identifier of the responding meter. Thisinformation is then transmitted to the collector.

For each unregistered meter that responded to the node scan issued bythe level one meter, the collector attempts again to determine thereliability of the communication path to that meter. In one embodiment,the collector sends a “Qualify Nodes Procedure” command to the level onenode which instructs the level one node to transmit a predeterminednumber of additional packets to the potential level two node and torecord the number of acknowledgements received back from the potentiallevel two node. This qualification score (e.g., 8 out of 10) is thentransmitted back to the collector, which again compares the score to aqualification threshold. In other embodiments, other measures of thecommunications reliability may be provided, such as an RSSI value.

If the qualification threshold is not met, then the collector adds anentry for the node in the Straggler Table, as discussed above. However,if there already is an entry in the Straggler Table for the node, thecollector will update that entry only if the qualification score forthis node scan procedure is better than the recorded qualification scorefrom the prior node scan that resulted in an entry for the node.

If the qualification threshold is met or exceeded, the collector 116registers the node. Again, registering a meter 114 at level twocomprises updating a list of the registered nodes at collector 116. Forexample, the list may be updated to identify the meter's uniqueidentifier and the level of the meter in the subnet. Additionally, thecollector's 116 registration information is updated to reflect that themeter 114 from which the scan process was initiated is identified as arepeater (or parent) for the newly registered node. The registrationprocess further comprises transmitting information to the newlyregistered meter as well as the meter that will serve as a repeater forthe newly added node. For example, the node that issued the node scanresponse request is updated to identify that it operates as a repeaterand, if it was previously registered as a repeater, increments a dataitem identifying the number of nodes for which it serves as a repeater.Thereafter, collector 116 forwards to the newly registered meter anindication that it is registered, an identification of the collector 116with which it is registered, the level the meter exists at in thesubnet, and the unique identifier of the node that will serve as itsparent, or repeater, when it communicates with the collector 116.

The collector then performs the same qualification procedure for eachother potential level two node that responded to the level one node'snode scan request. Once that process is completed for the first levelone node, the collector initiates the same procedure at each other levelone node until the process of qualifying and registering level two nodeshas been completed at each level one node. Once the node scan procedurehas been performed by each level one node, resulting in a number oflevel two nodes being registered with the collector, the collector willthen send the Initiate Node Scan Response command to each level twonode, in turn. Each level two node will then perform the same node scanprocedure as performed by the level one nodes, potentially resulting inthe registration of a number of level three nodes. The process is thenperformed at each successive node, until a maximum number of levels isreached (e.g., seven levels) or no unregistered nodes are left in thesubnet.

It will be appreciated that in the present embodiment, during thequalification process for a given node at a given level, the collectorqualifies the last “hop” only. For example, if an unregistered noderesponds to a node scan request from a level four node, and therefore,becomes a potential level five node, the qualification score for thatnode is based on the reliability of communications between the levelfour node and the potential level five node (i.e., packets transmittedby the level four node versus acknowledgments received from thepotential level five node), not based on any measure of the reliabilityof the communications over the full path from the collector to thepotential level five node. In other embodiments, of course, thequalification score could be based on the full communication path.

At some point, each meter will have an established communication path tothe collector which will be either a direct path (i.e., level one nodes)or an indirect path through one or more intermediate nodes that serve asrepeaters. If during operation of the network, a meter registered inthis manner fails to perform adequately, it may be assigned a differentpath or possibly to a different collector as described below.

As previously mentioned, a full node scan may be performed when acollector 116 is first introduced to a network. At the conclusion of thefull node scan, a collector 116 will have registered a set of meters 114with which it communicates and reads metering data. Full node scansmight be periodically performed by an installed collector to identifynew meters 114 that have been brought on-line since the last node scanand to allow registered meters to switch to a different path.

In addition to the full node scan, collector 116 may also perform aprocess of scanning specific meters 114 in the subnet 120, which isreferred to as a “node scan retry.” For example, collector 116 may issuea specific request to a meter 114 to perform a node scan outside of afull node scan when on a previous attempt to scan the node, thecollector 116 was unable to confirm that the particular meter 114received the node scan request. Also, a collector 116 may request a nodescan retry of a meter 114 when during the course of a full node scan thecollector 116 was unable to read the node scan data from the meter 114.Similarly, a node scan retry will be performed when an exceptionprocedure requesting an immediate node scan is received from a meter114.

The system 110 also automatically reconfigures to accommodate a newmeter 114 that may be added. More particularly, the system identifiesthat the new meter has begun operating and identifies a path to acollector 116 that will become responsible for collecting the meteringdata. Specifically, the new meter will broadcast an indication that itis unregistered. In one embodiment, this broadcast might be, forexample, embedded in, or relayed as part of a request for an update ofthe real time as described above. The broadcast will be received at oneof the registered meters 114 in proximity to the meter that isattempting to register. The registered meter 114 forwards the time tothe meter that is attempting to register. The registered node alsotransmits an exception request to its collector 116 requesting that thecollector 116 implement a node scan, which presumably will locate andregister the new meter. The collector 116 then transmits a request thatthe registered node perform a node scan. The registered node willperform the node scan, during which it requests that all unregisterednodes respond. Presumably, the newly added, unregistered meter willrespond to the node scan. When it does, the collector will then attemptto qualify and then register the new node in the same manner asdescribed above.

Once a communication path between the collector and a meter isestablished, the meter can begin transmitting its meter data to thecollector and the collector can transmit data and instructions to themeter. As mentioned above, data is transmitted in packets. “Outbound”packets are packets transmitted from the collector to a meter at a givenlevel. In one embodiment, outbound packets contain the following fields,but other fields may also be included:

Length—the length of the packet;

SrcAddr—source address—in this case, the ID of the collector;

DestAddr—the LAN ID of the meter to which the packet addressed;

-   -   RptPath—the communication path to the destination meter (i.e.,        the list of identifiers of each repeater in the path from the        collector to the destination node); and    -   Data—the payload of the packet.        The packet may also include integrity check information (e.g.,        CRC), a pad to fill-out unused portions of the packet and other        control information. When the packet is transmitted from the        collector, it will only be forwarded on to the destination meter        by those repeater meters whose identifiers appear in the RptPath        field. Other meters that may receive the packet, but that are        not listed in the path identified in the RptPath field will not        repeat the packet.

“Inbound” packets are packets transmitted from a meter at a given levelto the collector. In one embodiment, inbound packets contain thefollowing fields, but other fields may also be included:

Length—the length of the packet;

SrcAddr—source address—the address of the meter that initiated thepacket;

DestAddr—the ID of the collector to which the packet is to betransmitted;

-   -   RptAddr—the ID of the parent node that serves as the next        repeater for the sending node;    -   Data—the payload of the packet;        Because each meter knows the identifier of its parent node        (i.e., the node in the next lower level that serves as a        repeater for the present node), an inbound packet need only        identify who is the next parent. When a node receives an inbound        packet, it checks to see if the RptAddr matches its own        identifier. If not, it discards the packet. If so, it knows that        it is supposed to forward the packet on toward the collector.        The node will then replace the RptAddr field with the identifier        of its own parent and will then transmit the packet so that its        parent will receive it. This process will continue through each        repeater at each successive level until the packet reaches the        collector.

For example, suppose a meter at level three initiates transmission of apacket destined for its collector. The level three node will insert inthe RptAddr field of the inbound packet the identifier of the level twonode that serves as a repeater for the level three node. The level threenode will then transmit the packet. Several level two nodes may receivethe packet, but only the level two node having an identifier thatmatches the identifier in the RptAddr field of the packet willacknowledge it. The other will discard it. When the level two node withthe matching identifier receives the packet, it will replace the RptAddrfield of the packet with the identifier of the level one packet thatserves as a repeater for that level two packet, and the level two packetwill then transmit the packet. This time, the level one node having theidentifier that matches the RptAddr field will receive the packet. Thelevel one node will insert the identifier of the collector in theRptAddr field and will transmit the packet. The collector will thenreceive the packet to complete the transmission.

A collector 116 periodically retrieves meter data from the meters thatare registered with it. For example, meter data may be retrieved from ameter every 4 hours. Where there is a problem with reading the meterdata on the regularly scheduled interval, the collector will try to readthe data again before the next regularly scheduled interval.Nevertheless, there may be instances wherein the collector 116 is unableto read metering data from a particular meter 114 for a prolonged periodof time. The meters 114 store an indication of when they are read bytheir collector 116 and keep track of the time since their data has lastbeen collected by the collector 116. If the length of time since thelast reading exceeds a defined threshold, such as for example, 18 hours,presumably a problem has arisen in the communication path between theparticular meter 114 and the collector 116. Accordingly, the meter 114changes its status to that of an unregistered meter and attempts tolocate a new path to a collector 116 via the process described above fora new node. Thus, the exemplary system is operable to reconfigure itselfto address inadequacies in the system.

In some instances, while a collector 116 may be able to retrieve datafrom a registered meter 114 occasionally, the level of success inreading the meter may be inadequate. For example, if a collector 116attempts to read meter data from a meter 114 every 4 hours but is ableto read the data, for example, only 70 percent of the time or less, itmay be desirable to find a more reliable path for reading the data fromthat particular meter. Where the frequency of reading data from a meter114 falls below a desired success level, the collector 116 transmits amessage to the meter 114 to respond to node scans going forward. Themeter 114 remains registered but will respond to node scans in the samemanner as an unregistered node as described above. In other embodiments,all registered meters may be permitted to respond to node scans, but ameter will only respond to a node scan if the path to the collectorthrough the meter that issued the node scan is shorter (i.e., less hops)than the meter's current path to the collector. A lesser number of hopsis assumed to provide a more reliable communication path than a longerpath. A node scan request always identifies the level of the node thattransmits the request, and using that information, an already registerednode that is permitted to respond to node scans can determine if apotential new path to the collector through the node that issued thenode scan is shorter than the node's current path to the collector.

If an already registered meter 114 responds to a node scan procedure,the collector 116 recognizes the response as originating from aregistered meter but that by re-registering the meter with the node thatissued the node scan, the collector may be able to switch the meter to anew, more reliable path. The collector 116 may verify that the RSSIvalue of the node scan response exceeds an established threshold. If itdoes not, the potential new path will be rejected. However, if the RSSIthreshold is met, the collector 116 will request that the node thatissued the node scan perform the qualification process described above(i.e., send a predetermined number of packets to the node and count thenumber of acknowledgements received). If the resulting qualificationscore satisfies a threshold, then the collector will register the nodewith the new path. The registration process comprises updating thecollector 116 and meter 114 with data identifying the new repeater (i.e.the node that issued the node scan) with which the updated node will nowcommunicate. Additionally, if the repeater has not previously performedthe operation of a repeater, the repeater would need to be updated toidentify that it is a repeater. Likewise, the repeater with which themeter previously communicated is updated to identify that it is nolonger a repeater for the particular meter 114. In other embodiments,the threshold determination with respect to the RSSI value may beomitted. In such embodiments, only the qualification of the last “hop”(i.e., sending a predetermined number of packets to the node andcounting the number of acknowledgements received) will be performed todetermine whether to accept or reject the new path.

In some instances, a more reliable communication path for a meter mayexist through a collector other than that with which the meter isregistered. A meter may automatically recognize the existence of themore reliable communication path, switch collectors, and notify theprevious collector that the change has taken place. The process ofswitching the registration of a meter from a first collector to a secondcollector begins when a registered meter 114 receives a node scanrequest from a collector 116 other than the one with which the meter ispresently registered. Typically, a registered meter 114 does not respondto node scan requests. However, if the request is likely to result in amore reliable transmission path, even a registered meter may respond.Accordingly, the meter determines if the new collector offers apotentially more reliable transmission path. For example, the meter 114may determine if the path to the potential new collector 116 comprisesfewer hops than the path to the collector with which the meter isregistered. If not, the path may not be more reliable and the meter 114will not respond to the node scan. The meter 114 might also determine ifthe RSSI of the node scan packet exceeds an RSSI threshold identified inthe node scan information. If so, the new collector may offer a morereliable transmission path for meter data. If not, the transmission pathmay not be acceptable and the meter may not respond. Additionally, ifthe reliability of communication between the potential new collector andthe repeater that would service the meter meets a threshold establishedwhen the repeater was registered with its existing collector, thecommunication path to the new collector may be more reliable. If thereliability does not exceed this threshold, however, the meter 114 doesnot respond to the node scan.

If it is determined that the path to the new collector may be betterthan the path to its existing collector, the meter 114 responds to thenode scan. Included in the response is information regarding any nodesfor which the particular meter may operate as a repeater. For example,the response might identify the number of nodes for which the meterserves as a repeater.

The collector 116 then determines if it has the capacity to service themeter and any meters for which it operates as a repeater. If not, thecollector 116 does not respond to the meter that is attempting to changecollectors. If, however, the collector 116 determines that it hascapacity to service the meter 114, the collector 116 stores registrationinformation about the meter 114. The collector 116 then transmits aregistration command to meter 114. The meter 114 updates itsregistration data to identify that it is now registered with the newcollector. The collector 116 then communicates instructions to the meter114 to initiate a node scan request. Nodes that are unregistered, orthat had previously used meter 114 as a repeater respond to the requestto identify themselves to collector 116. The collector registers thesenodes as is described above in connection with registering newmeters/nodes.

Under some circumstances it may be necessary to change a collector. Forexample, a collector may be malfunctioning and need to be takenoff-line. Accordingly, a new communication path must be provided forcollecting meter data from the meters serviced by the particularcollector. The process of replacing a collector is performed bybroadcasting a message to unregister, usually from a replacementcollector, to all of the meters that are registered with the collectorthat is being removed from service. In one embodiment, registered metersmay be programmed to only respond to commands from the collector withwhich they are registered. Accordingly, the command to unregister maycomprise the unique identifier of the collector that is being replaced.In response to the command to unregister, the meters begin to operate asunregistered meters and respond to node scan requests. To allow theunregistered command to propagate through the subnet, when a nodereceives the command it will not unregister immediately, but ratherremain registered for a defined period, which may be referred to as the“Time to Live”. During this time to live period, the nodes continue torespond to application layer and immediate retries allowing theunregistration command to propagate to all nodes in the subnet.Ultimately, the meters register with the replacement collector using theprocedure described above.

One of collector's 116 main responsibilities within subnet 120 is toretrieve metering data from meters 114. In one embodiment, collector 116has as a goal to obtain at least one successful read of the meteringdata per day from each node in its subnet. Collector 116 attempts toretrieve the data from all nodes in its subnet 120 at a configurableperiodicity. For example, collector 116 may be configured to attempt toretrieve metering data from meters 114 in its subnet 120 once every 4hours. In greater detail, in one embodiment, the data collection processbegins with the collector 116 identifying one of the meters 114 in itssubnet 120. For example, collector 116 may review a list of registerednodes and identify one for reading. The collector 116 then communicatesa command to the particular meter 114 that it forward its metering datato the collector 116. If the meter reading is successful and the data isreceived at collector 116, the collector 116 determines if there areother meters that have not been read during the present reading session.If so, processing continues. However, if all of the meters 114 in subnet120 have been read, the collector waits a defined length of time, suchas, for example, 4 hours, before attempting another read.

If during a read of a particular meter, the meter data is not receivedat collector 116, the collector 116 begins a retry procedure wherein itattempts to retry the data read from the particular meter. Collector 116continues to attempt to read the data from the node until either thedata is read or the next subnet reading takes place. In an embodiment,collector 116 attempts to read the data every 60 minutes. Thus, whereina subnet reading is taken every 4 hours, collector 116 may issue threeretries between subnet readings.

Meters 114 are often two-way meters—i.e. they are operable to bothreceive and transmit data. However, one-way meters that are operableonly to transmit and not receive data may also be deployed. FIG. 4 is ablock diagram illustrating a subnet 401 that includes a number ofone-way meters 451-456. As shown, meters 114 a-k are two-way devices. Inthis example, the two-way meters 114 a-k operate in the exemplary mannerdescribed above, such that each meter has a communication path to thecollector 116 that is either a direct path (e.g., meters 114 a and 114 bhave a direct path to the collector 116) or an indirect path through oneor more intermediate meters that serve as repeaters. For example, meter114 h has a path to the collector through, in sequence, intermediatemeters 114 d and 114 b. In this example embodiment, when a one-way meter(e.g., meter 451) broadcasts its usage data, the data may be received atone or more two-way meters that are in proximity to the one-way meter(e.g., two-way meters 114 f and 114 g). In one embodiment, the data fromthe one-way meter is stored in each two-way meter that receives it, andthe data is designated in those two-way meters as having been receivedfrom the one-way meter. At some point, the data from the one-way meteris communicated, by each two-way meter that received it, to thecollector 116. For example, when the collector reads the two-way meterdata, it recognizes the existence of meter data from the one-way meterand reads it as well. After the data from the one-way meter has beenread, it is removed from memory.

While the collection of data from one-way meters by the collector hasbeen described above in the context of a network of two-way meters 114that operate in the manner described in connection with the embodimentsdescribed above, it is understood that the present invention is notlimited to the particular form of network established and utilized bythe meters 114 to transmit data to the collector. Rather, the presentinvention may be used in the context of any network topology in which aplurality of two-way communication nodes are capable of transmittingdata and of having that data propagated through the network of nodes tothe collector.

According to various embodiments, a synchronization header may be usedto provide the receiver “evidence” of the presence of a valid signal ina packet oriented data transmission system. The synchronization headermay provide the receiver a mechanism to signal the start of data and mayinclude (1) the preamble waveform, (2) an end of preamble waveform, and(3) a start-of-frame delimiter (SFD) token value that indicates the endof the synchronization header and the start of packet data. To supportdevices that can transfer packet data at different data rates, a commonsynchronization header may be used, with the exception that a differentSFD value may be used to indicate the data rate for the packet data.This allows the packet data rate to be varied based on device type andalso allows a “fast” data rate device to route “slow” data rate packetsto devices that cannot support the higher data rates. Variousembodiments may realize certain advantages. For example, the packet datarate of a device or system can be increased while continuing to supportthe installed utility assets that communicate at a lower existing datarate, even though the new data rate may be an order of magnitude higherthan the existing data rate. In order for the new higher data ratesystem to be backward compatible and interoperable, the endpointfirmware may be sufficiently agile to operate at either the old datarate or the new data rate.

FIG. 5 illustrates various parts of an example synchronization header500 and shows a preamble 502, an end of preamble 504, for example, aninverted preamble, and a start of frame delimiter (SFD) 506. FIG. 5 alsoillustrates a data portion 508. Two different values of the SFD 506 areshown with corresponding different packet data rates, shown in the dataportion 508, indicated by different SFD values. It will be appreciatedby those of skill in the art that the SFD values and the correspondingdata rates are only provided by way of example and not limitation, andnot necessarily the actual values or data rates used by the system. Itwill also be appreciated that, even though FIG. 5 illustrates twodifferent values of the SFD 506, the SFD can have other values notspecifically shown in FIG. 5 for signaling a variety of packet datarates.

In this way, different values of the SFD 506 can be used to signaldifferent packet data rates and facilitate interoperability between adevice communicating at one data rate and a different devicecommunicating at another data rate. Additionally, a significant term incommunications between devices that are not synchronized is the lengthof the preamble. According to another aspect, the preamble can beshortened without losing the ability to synchronize the communicatingdevices. The preamble value may be shortened by, for example, a factorof 3.25 while still maintaining the ability for a receiving device tosynchronize to the transmitted signal. In some embodiments, the preamblemay be shortened by reducing the number of RSSI scans by, for example,from four passes across all channels to one pass.

According to another aspect, receiver sensitivity can be maintained whenthe data rate for the packet data is increased by, for example, a factorof 8. Typically, the receiver sensitivity drops by 3 db each time thedata rate is doubled. If this rule of thumb were followed in a networkdevice, the receiver sensitivity for packet data would drop byapproximately 9 dB when the data rate for packet data increases by afactor of 8. The mechanisms used to improve receiver sensitivity mayallow the devices supporting the faster data rate to maintain anequivalent sensitivity for packets that are equivalent to the slow datarate packets. For example, a fast data rate packet with a duration of 40msec may show a similar receiver sensitivity to a slow data rate packetwith a 40 msec duration.

To detect a preamble and synchronize to the exact bit timing used by atransmitting device, some conventional receiving devices use a processknown in the art as “carrier detect” to determine if a valid preamble ispresent on a channel that was marked as having a strong signal, i.e., ahigh RSSI value. The carrier detect process can both detect the signaland align the receiving device to the bit timing of the transmittingdevice. After a carrier has been detected, the receiving device canfurther refine the bit time alignment using a process known in the artas “carrier lock.” The carrier lock process further refines the bittiming by sampling around known bit transitions and adjusting thesampling time accordingly. For example, the sampling may be done with 32samples evenly spaced around the bit transition, such that half of thesamples, i.e., 16 samples, are taken prior to the transition and theother half of the samples are taken after the transition. The 32 samplesare then compared to an ideal waveform. If there are bit errors when theideal waveform is compared to the signal to which the device is tryingto “lock,” a timing adjustment is made to adjust the time when the nextsample is taken. In this way, the bit timing for the receiving device isadjusted to better align the receiving device with the transmittingdevice.

Some conventional receiving devices perform the carrier lock samplingusing 32 samples around two full bit times. The bit transition may be inthe middle of this 32 sample period. In such devices, the amount of bittime adjustment is based on a fixed amount of time adjustment determinedby the number of bit errors compared to the ideal signal.

In some embodiments, the sampling window may be narrowed around the bittransition. That is, while the receiving device may still take, forexample, 32 samples, it may take those samples within a narrower timeframe, e.g., within less than two full bits around the bit transition.Using a narrower sampling window provides the samples in a shorterperiod of time and thus allows for a more granular adjustment factor,where the adjustment factor is still based on the number of differencesbetween the 32 samples and the ideal waveform.

In addition to the narrower sampling window and resulting improvedresolution, the amount of adjustment for aligning the receiving deviceto the bit timing of the transmitting device may be further refined byusing a fine adjustment mechanism in addition to a coarse adjustmentmechanism. According to some embodiments, both the coarse adjustmentperiod and the fine adjustment period use the same narrow samplingwindow around the bit transition, but the coarse adjustment may be onlyused for the first adjustment that occurs during the carrier lockprocess. Typically, the carrier detect process aligns the receivingdevice closely to the bit timing of the transmitting device, but thealignment is not as precise as what is obtained by the carrier lockprocess. To account for this lack of precision, the first sample periodof the carrier lock process may use a coarse resolution adjustment inwhich the adjustment is based on the number of bit errors. This coarseresolution adjustment is similar to how “carrier lock” adjustments areperformed by some conventional devices.

However, once the initial carrier lock adjustment has been made, coarseadjustments may not be desirable as they have a tendency to put too muchweight on a given sample, while potentially losing the tracking andsynchronization gained from previous carrier lock sampling windows. Toprevent undesirable “jumps” from a bad sample or a “noisy” bit, in someembodiments, after the initial coarse adjustment, subsequent carrierlock adjustments may be done using an adjustment mechanism having afiner resolution, in which the amount of adjustment allowed may belimited to a predetermined and configurable time period and is notdetermined based on the number of bit errors, but rather on the positiveor negative direction of the error. This configurable time period may beset to progressively smaller periods during successive iterations of thefine adjustment process. This fine adjustment mechanism allows the bitedge to be closely refined, without allowing large jumps that may delayor prevent the synchronization process. Note that the adjustment mayallow the next bit time to be adjusted in a positive or a negativedirection, based on the relationship between the sample results and theideal waveform.

In some embodiments, a device may support two configuration tables thatdefine the amount of coarse adjustment and the amount of fine adjustmentbased on the samples near the bit transition. The device also may have aconfiguration parameter to define the number of bit errors that would beconsidered an invalid signal and thus require the receiving device tostop the carrier lock process and look for a signal on a differentchannel.

The addition of a fine adjustment mechanism in addition to the existingcoarse adjustment mechanism allows the receiving device to bettersynchronize to the bit time of the transmitting device. This enhancedsynchronization allows for improved bit detection of the SFD and thefollowing data packet. Improved synchronization may be particularlyimportant when the data packets are transmitted at a higher data rate.

In addition to the mechanisms used to refine the bit timing, the devicemay support a table that allows for a variety of data rates, in whichthe bit timing for a variety of data rates is determined by a tablelookup that associates the SFD to a data rate and to the correspondingbit times. This flexible mechanism allows a variety of data rates to besupported by a configuration table change, as compared to requiring achange in the firmware that controls the device's functionality.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method 600 forsynchronizing a receiving device to the bit timing of a transmittingdevice. First, at a step 602, the receiving device listens for apreamble. After the receiving device receives the preamble, thereceiving device detects an SFD at a step 604. In particular, when thereceiving device begins to receive the end of the preamble, it begins tosample and monitor every received bit to identify the SFD. At a step606, the receiving device compares the value of the SFD to a number ofentries in a lookup table and retrieves a result from the lookup table,which the receiving device uses to determine the data rate of thetransmitting device at a step 608. At a step 610, the receiving devicecollects a number of samples, for example, around a known bittransition. As disclosed above, the number of samples may be collectedover a smaller time window around the bit transition as compared withconventional carrier lock techniques. The receiving device then comparesthe collected samples to an ideal waveform and adjusts the timing of thenext sampling as appropriate at a step 612. At a step 614, the receivingdevice performs the coarse adjustment procedure disclosed above. In someembodiments, the receiving device also performs the fine adjustmentprocedure disclosed above at a step 616.

Some systems use an installed base of meters that utilize the legacylong preamble and slow data rate. New devices may be added to thenetwork, and these devices may be capable of communicating using theslow data rate, but may also support the mechanisms to support the fastdata rate for packet data. In addition to adding new devices, anover-the-air (OTA) firmware upgrade process can be used to upgradefirmware in legacy devices to enable them to support the new, fasterdata rate for packet data. Depending on the network, some legacy devicesmay not be upgradable; such devices can only support the legacy (slow)data rates. In this type of mixed network, the system collector maydetermine the capability of each device that operates in the network andcommunicate to the device using the fastest data rate supported by thedevice. The collector may associate the device's capabilities to theduration of the preamble. For communicating with receiving devices thatsupport the faster packet data rate, the collector may also use theshorter preamble duration. For communicating with receiving devices thatcontinue to use the legacy (slow) data rate, on the other hand, thecollector may use the legacy, longer preamble duration. Devices thatonly support the legacy data rate may be communicated to using this datarate, and new devices can properly route these messages, while alsosupporting messages at the higher data rate. The devices in the networkthat support both slow and fast data rates can route messages to alldevices, whereas the legacy devices that only support the slow data ratecan function as end point devices, even if they cannot route messages toother devices.

In some embodiments, a device has a configuration parameter thatspecifies the duration of the preamble to be used for communications. Toenable efficient communications as soon as the device is upgradedwithout requiring a secondary operation to change the preamble length,and to also allow for different preamble durations, when responding to arequest or routing a message, the receiving device may use the samepreamble duration received in the message. The device may also use thedata packet data rate that is received for initiating a response.Accordingly, the majority of the system intelligence about networkstructure and a device's capability can be maintained at the collectoras compared to being stored in each end point and routing device.

While systems and methods have been described and illustrated withreference to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art willrecognize that modification and variations may be made without departingfrom the principles described above and set forth in the followingclaims. For example, although in the embodiments described above, thesystems and methods of the present invention are described in thecontext of a network of metering devices, such as electricity, gas, orwater meters, it is understood that the present invention can beimplemented in any kind of network in which it is necessary to obtaininformation from or to provide information to end devices in the system,including without limitation, networks comprising meters, in-homedisplays, in-home thermostats, load control devices, or any combinationof such devices. Accordingly, reference should be made to the followingclaims as describing the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a wireless networkcomprising a first device configured to communicate data at a first datarate and a second device configured to communicate data at a second datarate different from the first data rate, the method comprising:receiving, in the first device, a signal comprising a synchronizationheader comprising a preamble waveform and a start-of-frame delimiter(SFD) value that identifies an end of the synchronization header and astart of packet data; identifying a data rate of the packet data as oneof the first data rate or the second data rate as a function of thestart-of-frame delimiter value; collecting a plurality of samples of thesignal; determining a number of bit errors in the plurality of samplesrelative to an ideal waveform; performing an adjustment to a bit timingof the first device based on the determined number of bit errors; afteradjusting the bit timing of the first device, collecting a plurality ofadditional samples of the signal; and performing an additionaladjustment to the bit timing of the first device, wherein the additionaladjustment is limited to a configurable allowed amount.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: comparing the start-of-frame delimitervalue to a plurality of entries in a table; receiving a result from thetable; and identifying the data rate of the packet data based on theresult received from the table.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thesynchronization header further comprises an end of preamble waveform. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the preamble waveform has a duration, andfurther comprising transmitting, from the first device, a reply having areply preamble waveform having a reply preamble waveform duration equalto the duration of the preamble waveform of the received signal.
 5. Awireless network comprising: a central node comprising a transceiverconfigured to transmit and receive data communications using selectedfrequency channels of a plurality of frequency channels; and a pluralityof bidirectional nodes in bidirectional wireless communication with thecentral node; wherein the central node initiates a data communicationfrom the central node to a particular bidirectional node of theplurality of bidirectional nodes, the data communication comprising asynchronization header comprising a preamble waveform and astart-of-frame delimiter (SFD) value that identifies an end of thesynchronization header and a start of packet data and that identifies adata rate selected from a plurality of data rates, and wherein theparticular bidirectional node is configured to collect a plurality ofsamples of the data communication, determine a number of bit errors inthe plurality of samples relative to an ideal waveform, perform anadjustment to a bit timing of the particular bidirectional node based onthe determined number of bit errors, collect a plurality of additionalsamples of the data communication after adjusting the bit timing of theparticular bidirectional node, and perform an additional adjustment tothe bit timing of the particular bidirectional node, wherein theadditional adjustment is limited to a configurable allowed amount. 6.The wireless network of claim 5, wherein the particular bidirectionalnode is configured to: compare the start-of-frame delimiter value to aplurality of entries in a table; receive a result from the table; andidentify the data rate based on the result received from the table. 7.The wireless network of claim 5, wherein the synchronization headerfurther comprises an end of preamble waveform.
 8. The wireless networkof claim 5, wherein the plurality of bidirectional nodes comprises: atleast one first node communicating data at a first data rate of theplurality of data rates; and at least one second node communicating dataat a second data rate of the plurality of data rates, the second datarate being higher than the first data rate.
 9. The wireless network ofclaim 5, wherein the preamble waveform of the data communicationinitiated by the central node has a duration, and wherein the particularbidirectional node is configured to transmit a reply having a replypreamble waveform having a reply preamble waveform duration equal to theduration of the preamble waveform of the data communication initiated bythe central node.
 10. The wireless network of claim 5, wherein thecentral node is configured to: determine a maximum data rate at whichthe particular bidirectional node is capable of communicating; andcommunicate with the particular bidirectional node at the maximum datarate at which the particular bidirectional node is capable ofcommunicating.
 11. A processor-readable storage memory storingprocessor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to operate a wireless network comprising a firstdevice configured to communicate data at a first data rate and a seconddevice configured to communicate data at a second data rate differentfrom the first data rate by: receiving, in the first device, a signalcomprising a synchronization header comprising a preamble waveform and astart-of-frame delimiter (SFD) value that identifies an end of thesynchronization header and a start of packet data; identifying a datarate of the packet data as one of the first data rate or the second datarate as a function of the start-of-frame delimiter value; collecting aplurality of samples of the signal; determining a number of bit errorsin the plurality of samples relative to an ideal waveform; performing anadjustment to a bit timing of the first device based on the determinednumber of bit errors; after adjusting the bit timing of the firstdevice, collecting a plurality of additional samples of the signal; andperforming an additional adjustment to the bit timing of the firstdevice, wherein the additional adjustment is limited to a configurableallowed amount.
 12. The processor-readable storage memory of claim 11,storing further processor-executable instructions that, when executed bythe processor, cause the processor to: compare the start-of-framedelimiter token value to a plurality of entries in a table; receive aresult from the table; and identify the data rate of the packet databased on the result received from the table.
 13. The processor-readablestorage memory of claim 11, wherein the synchronization header furthercomprises an end of preamble waveform.
 14. The processor-readablestorage memory of claim 11, wherein the preamble waveform has aduration, and wherein the processor-readable storage memory storesfurther processor-executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to transmit, from the first device, areply having a reply preamble waveform having a reply preamble waveformduration equal to the duration of the preamble waveform of the receivedsignal.